Chapter Text
3
More Questions Than Answers
Five raised his eyebrow as he looked at Diego’s apartment. He hadn’t really known what to expect but as he looked at the discarded boxes and clothes on the floor, he focused his attention back on Diego.
“Couldn’t be bothered to clean up?” Five sneered.
“Well I didn’t think I was going to be having any guests.” Diego replied in a huff.
“Neither did I.” Five muttered underneath his breath. Diego didn’t catch it.
Diego closed the door behind as Five stepped into the middle of the room. His brother was pretty much living very similar to how he was back in the first timeline, except in this one he seemed to have a decent job.
Five watched as Diego began to clear some room off the couch. His idea of cleaning was moving the pile of clothes onto the floor.
“You’ll have to sleep on the couch,” Diego paused and then pointed towards the bathroom.
“There’s a bathroom there if you want to clean yourself up. Do you need spare clothes?”
Five looked down at himself. His suit was practically destroyed. He looked at his watch, the glass had broken. The hands stuck permanently at 3.
“Do you have anything that will fit?”
Diego paused.
He walked over to his pile of clothes and rooted through them before pulling out a pair of cream sweatpants and a baggy t-shirt from underneath.
“Here.” He threw them over to Five. The throw was clunky and almost ended up hitting Five in the face but he caught it in time.
Diego’s throws were always accurate. Five didn’t like this one bit. He was pretty sure the old man’s reset had taken away his powers. However it looked like it had done a lot more than that.
Five headed towards the bathroom and locked the door behind him. He discarded his suit and faced the grungy mirror on the wall. He didn’t think he would ever get used to seeing the unfamiliar face staring back at him.
He looked pale and there was a cut on his lip. He turned away from the mirror and stepped into the shower, turning the fobs on and a jet of hot water came tumbling down onto his shoulders.
Having hot water was something he had to get used to when he had returned from the apocalypse. He could remember the first time he had stepped into a shower at commission headquarters, it had felt exhilarating and also terrifying.
He stayed in the shower until his fingers had pruned. Once he got out, he dried himself with the towel and put the spare clothes on.
The t-shirt felt baggy, hanging onto his legs. He ended up rolling the legs of his sweatpants and tucking the t-shirt in. He felt ridiculous but they were comfy and had a scent that felt familiar but Five couldn’t place it.
He walked down the hallway back to Diego.
“Better?” Diego asked from the couch.
“They’re too big.” Five muttered picking up at the sweatpants.
“Can’t do much about that. I wasn’t exactly expecting to be babysitting a kid tonight.” The couch creaked as Diego stood up.
“I told you not to call me that.”
“Five then. God that’s weird. What’s your real name?” Diego walked towards him and looked down.
Five sighed.
“You don’t need to know.” Five shoved his hands inside the sweatpant pockets. The gesture felt familiar.
“You’re kind of an asshole, huh?” Diego muttered.
Five didn’t comment. He felt exhausted now that his body had time to relax. He stared at the couch. It wasn’t the worst place that he had slept, in fact it looked possibly comfortable compared to the ground.
He wanted to head towards it but Diego was still hovering by him.
“You're not gonna tell me who you’re living with? There’s got to be someone looking after you.”
“It’s complicated.”
“How is it complicated?”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
Diego scratched his neck and rolled his eyes.
“We’re going back to the station first thing in the morning. If you don’t wanna talk now, you’re gonna have to talk tomorrow. Or else I will have to get CPS involved.”
Five didn’t reply and only watched as Diego scurried around to a mattress on the floor. He dusted it with his fingers before sitting on it.
Five sighed and headed towards the couch. He lay on it and stared at the dark ceiling. There were so many questions that he had and no answers. Where were the rest of his siblings? Were they safe?
He didn’t particularly want to stay with Diego but right now he had nowhere to go. He closed his eyes, could he relax for five minutes? Although he was in an unfamiliar world, it didn’t feel like another apocalypse was on them. However the last time, he had thought that the whole universe had ended. Could he afford to relax?
He took deep breaths. Maybe he was wasting time. There was an undeniable itch in his bones that he couldn’t explain.
Five soon fell into a restless sleep. He dreamed of the first apocalypse, of the ash, of the fires and there it was replaced by Viktor playing the violin sending an energy beam towards him.
He woke up, his heart hammering in his chest. Why was he dreaming about that? He stared up at the ceiling again. It felt like it had gotten darker outside.
The only sound was Diego’s snores from the mattress and the occasional honk of a car outside. Five thought about leaving, he didn’t want to go back to the police station butDiego was his only lead. He had to stay with him, but he wasn’t sure what he could do and how he was going to stay. He might have to tell a fabricated lie. A lie that would be heavily detailed, with a hint of the truth sprinkled in.. Diego had always been easy to fool; he had a hero complex. Five would have to manipulate that if he was going to stick around.
When Five awoke again, his whole body ached. Sleeping on a couch hadn’t been exactly comfortable. His legs ached as he went to a sitting position.
He looked up to see Diego kneeling down in front of him.
“Are we in the mood to talk today?” Diego asked as he passed him a bowl of cereal.
Five didn’t reply and instead focused on the cereal in front of him. His stomach grumbled and he realized that the last time that he had eaten had been back at the cafe, but even then he hadn’t really eaten it properly.
He took the spoon and didn’t stop. The cereal wasn’t the best, it was slightly too sugary and had a weird aftertaste but it was enough.
“You need to slow down.” Diego said as he grabbed the bowl away from him,
“Give it back.” Five said and stood up on the couch.
“Then eat slower.”
He passed it back to Five and let him finish.
The interaction felt eerie familiar but Five ignored it. Once he was finished, he passed the bowl back to Diego.
He walked over to the kitchen area and placed it down.
“So?” He said turning around.
“So, what?” Five asked.
“Do you really want to go back to the station?”
“No.” Five clasped his hands together. Would Diego believe him?
“Then talk, Five.” Diego crossed his arms.
“My parents aren’t dead. Well my old man isn’t.”
“So you were lying?” Diego sighed and rubbed his head. “This would have been easier if you had said this yesterday.”
“Irrelevant.” Five said and he stood up from the couch. His sweatpants legs began to roll down. He really needed to find something that would fit.
“My Dad is Reginald Hargreeves.”
“Bullshit. Reginald Hargreeves doesn’t have any children.” Diego was shaking his head.
Five sighed. It looked like this was going to be more difficult than he had originally thought.
“I’m adopted.”
“Am I really supposed to buy that bullshit?” Diego said. “We’re going back to the station.”
Five sighed.
“How do you know that he doesn’t have any children?” Five asked with a shrug.
“Well something like that would be all over the news.”
“Are you sure? He’s a very secretive man, is it so hard to believe that he adopted someone?”
Diego scratched at his stubble.
“It’s not impossible but how can I believe you?”
“You’re going to have to trust me.” Five said. Diego had always had a sense of loyalty to his family, he wondered if that would still extend to a stranger.
“Let’s say that you are telling the truth, why on earth did you run from the cops? You could have asked the rookies to take you home.”
Five nodded to himself. This was where the lie would need to come in.
“I’m going undercover for him.”
“Undercover for what?” Diego looked intrigued.
“Let’s say that’s highly confidential.” Five replied.
“Why would he send a thirteen year old on an undercover mission?”
“I’m a lot stronger than I look but I need to get back to him.”
“If he’s really your Dad, you would be able to get back to him fine.”
“Dad’s secretive. He has several addresses. I need your help to find the right one.” Five said.
Diego paused and then nodded.
“Fine.” He replied.
He had taken the bait.